Interview with Savanna Samson

Hello Savanna, for those who might not know you please let us know you are and please describe yourself?

I would describe myself as a small town girl with big crazy dreams.I moved to Manhattan from Watertown, NY the second I graduated from high school to pursue a career in dance. I ended up dancing but not in classical ballet like I intended! From there I went on to become an adult film star and have since retired from being in front of the camera. I long for the acting part and study acting in the city. I started my own line of wine in 2004 and have just bought a piece of paradise in Montalcino, Italy where I make with my partner, Brunello di Montalcino. It’s a fabulous wine and my goal is to make it a success in the US and abroad as well! I put the same kind of passion into my wine biz as I did the adult biz so I am confident it will one day be a huge success.

What prompted you to join the adult industry?

I longed to be free sexually and express something I repressed for so long. What liberation it was to finally free myself of the weight of all that guilt I grew up with! I worked at a gentlemen’s club called Scores and was surrounded by people with open minds. I ultimately ended up writing a letter to Rocco Siffredi and soon found myself in Paris to make a movie. It was nominated for Best Foreign film and when I attended the AVN awards and adult expo and saw the Vivid booth, I was immediately drawn to it. I asked how I could become a Vivid Girl and well, the rest is history!!

You have been retired for a little while now and have become a vintner. What inspired you to get into the wine making business?

I was fascinated by the wine business since I was a young girl. My dad made wine in our basement and I remember when the oak barrels arrived and the crates of grapes and the smell and the pride in my father’s eyes! When I left home I started traveling to Italy and France studying wine, always fantasizing about having my own vineyard. As I write I have this feeling of excitement knowing I did what I set out to do. Now, I have to make it work!!

What would you say is the best wine you make? What is your personal favorite?

My journey through Italy has come full circle and brought me back to the very wine that made me fall in love with the wine making of my partner Roberto Cipresso. I now have a piece, a couple pieces actually, of paradise in Italy and make incredible Brunello di Montalcino. It is really Roberto’s baby but each year I become more and more one with the terroir. I am very proud to be a part of La Fiorita and love our philosophy which is that our wine is an expression of the soil and conditions from which it comes. One day I will realize that it is truly mine. Until that time, my heart is with Songo Tre, which is my third wine under the Savanna label. It is a blend within the same garden and it is singing now. I am so pleased to say it is the wine of the new Vivid Cabaret club in NY. One day I would like to make a white wine again but for now my money and effort is in my Brunello. I am making a kick ass Rosato with the juice from this past years harvest this year though. The problem is it’s 15% alcohol! Then again, our philosophy is the terroir and conditions in which it comes and hey, this is what God intended, 15% alcohol!!

What would you say you took from adult industry that you now apply to your new business?

As strange as it sounds, I found my confidence in the nude. Crazy coming from someone who picked apart every flaw but somehow that’s what happened. I guess I should get naked and stomp grapes and find the same confidence in my wine business. Yes, that’s exactly what’s missing!!

While I was reading up on you I found out you have a vineyard in Italy. Around what area is it located and what kind of grapes and wine to you produce from there?

I bought an existing brand called La Fiorita and it is very important that I don’t mix my two brands. The vineyard is in Tuscany, Montalcino and I make Brunello di Montalcino which is from 100% Sangiovese grapes. La Fiorita is an expression of the terroir in which it comes and is made up of 2 very different vineyards and a third which is being planted now. It is truly extraordinary and I hope that you will have the chance to try it.

Of the wines you produce, what would you suggest for someone who doesn’t know much about wine to try?

You must try my Barbera, which is one of the few feminine grapes of Italy. It is medium to full bodied, well balanced, fruit forward, a bit jammy and brings out the fun, sexy in you. It does! I swear!! It is drinking beautifully now and if you come to the Vivid Cabaret Club in NYC you will try it!

Now I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t ask this but is there any chance of you making more movies in the future and if there is, what kind of movies would you like to make?

I do miss making movies. Yes the sex part was great and with Vivid I was the star of my own scripted movies. Now I am studying acting and feel the need to perform but I don’t think that’s where the adult industry is at this time. For now I feel the need to keep my sex private and sacred and choose to share my love through my wine.

On a similar thought, assuming you still keep up with the industry, who are some of the people that you would want to work with if you came back?

Tori Black is beautiful and hot and I always loved her movies but since the opening of Vivid Cabaret I bonded with Ash Hollywood and Kendall Karson. I think Ash and I would kill it in a movie. Too hot to comprehend!

What advice would you give someone who is thinking about getting into the adult industry?

The only advice I have now for someone going into the adult industry is to do it only because you are a delicious little sex kitten who wants to enjoy herself. I came into the industry before the internet took over and it kills me that all my work is plastered for free all over it. I thought it was for adults and that if you wanted it you have to pay for it but all of me is exploited for free and it is just not right or fair. Sorry to be a downer but that’s how I feel.

What sort of things do you like to do when you aren’t working? Any hobbies?

Oh yes, I love taking advantage of all New York has to offer. I love the theater and ballet and the opera, fine and casual dining and skating at Bryant Park, Central Park or Rockefeller Plaza. I study acting and am with a playgroup for acting. New York is amazing. I really love it here!!

Are there any projects or special events coming up that you would like to promote, if so please do so?

I will be presenting my wines at Vivid Caberet in NYC at 61 west 37th street between 5th and 6th every Wednesday evening through Valentines Day and am always up for a wine lunch or dinner in the city with my wines. Please visit my site SavannaSamsonWine.com or my Brunello site www.LaFiorita.com for information.